A dish cooked pizzaiola implies that is is pizza-like and this relatively quick baked dish is redolent of the flavors of a pizza with its olives, tomato, mozzarella cheese and oregano. The ingredients are placed in a pan and baked for 15 minutes. This swordfish pizzaiola could be preceded by Tubetti with Peas and Prosciutto (see below) which you could make at the same time.

[Photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

1 3/4 pound swordfish, sliced into finger-sized pieces

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped black olives

2 ounces capers

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3/4 pound ripe fresh plum tomatoes, sliced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 425º F.

2. Arrange the fish in an oiled baking pan. Sprinkle the mozzarella, olives, capers, garlic and tomatoes on top. Season with olive oil, oregano, and lightly with salt and pepper and bake until the fish is cooked through and the cheese bubbling, about 15 minutes. Pour or spoon off any excess water from either the fish or the cheese and serve.

Clifford Wright has put together 300 mouthwatering recipes [in Real Stew] that I want to try in the next week! This is exactly what I feel like eating right now. - David Rosengarten, host of TV Food Network’s In Food Today and author of Taste: One Palate’s Journey Through the Wo

Small plates that are big on flavor are always in season at my house. This is another wonderful collection of Mediterranean recipes from Clifford Wright [Little Foods of the Mediterranean] that will send me into the kitchen with pleasure. Wright strikes just the right note between scholarly and sensual. - Joyce Goldstein, author of The Mediterranean Kitchen and Saffron Shores